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A positive performance from Gibraltar was undone by a second half goal by Jeff Hendrick as Ireland secured an unconvincing 1-0 win.

After weeks of uncertainty, international football returned to the Victoria Stadium. Ireland got the game underway with their fans singing loudly in the background.

Liam Walker found himself with some time on the edge of the box and his quickfire shot was block, there were shouts for a penalty but the Greek referee waved play on.

Ireland nearly found themselves infront on the 15th minute, a free-kick nearly found the 6ft 4″ of Shane Duffy but there was too much pace on the ball and it went out for a Gibraltar goal-kick.

Joseph Chipolina’s clearance was blocked by his own team-mate Jayce Olivero, the loose ball was crossed in and Roy Chipolina’s header nearly found its way into his own net if it wasn’t for an excellent reflex save by Chino.

Quick play by Ireland saw Seamus Coleman receive the ball in the box, his low cross nearly found David McGoldrick but Roy Chipolina intercepted and cleared the danger.

The Greek referee blew the whistle for half-time with the score at 0-0, a positive performance so far by Gibraltar.

Gibraltar got the second half underway and straight away won a corner thanks to Tjay De Barr. Liam Walker delivered the ball into the box and Roy Chipolina rose above his marker and looked certain to score but an unbelievable save from Darren Randolph kept it out.

Three minutes later and Ireland made it 1-0, McGoldrick got in-behind Roy Chipolina and cut the ball back to Jeff Hendrick who placed his shot into the bottom corner.

With just over an hour gone, Gibraltar made their first substitution with Adam Priestly replacing Louie Annesley – just before that, Lee Casciaro shot wide from inside the box.

Joseph Chipolina went on one of usual runs, dribbled past two players and played the ball out to Liam Walker whose shot from range was excellently blocked by Richard Keogh.

Gibraltar made their second substitution on the 77th minute with Alain Pons replacing Anthony Hernandez – an attacking move as they searched for an equaliser.

Ireland continued to control the game, saw out the three added minutes and walked away with an unconvincing 1-0 win.

We caught up with Jack Sergeant to talk about Gibraltar’s preparation for their opening game against Ireland, the feelings within the training camp and more.

Since last year’s friendly win over Latvia, Jack has cemented a spot in Gibraltar’s defence. Four months after Gib’s last competitive game, we asked Jack how it feels to be back with the squad – “It feels good to be back and training with all the team. To be honest since the Nations League finished, everything has gone by really quick and now it is time to compete in the Euro Qualifiers.”

Jack took time out of his busy schedule with West Didsbury & Chorlton to travel back to Gibraltar and link up with the squad. With the Ireland game just around the corner, we asked how the preparation has gone – “We have been training for over a week together now and preparation has gone according to plan. There’s a good atmosphere around the team and we are prepared for the game on Saturday.”

After a positive Nations League campaign which saw Gibraltar pick up two wins and finish third in their game – we asked how the team is feeling going into the Euro Qualifiers, “Overall I think we performed well in the Nations League, taking away a few moments in games. The team is in a good spell at the moment with a mix of younger and older players blending well. Every match we play, we will try & get the best result possible and hopefully cause some upsets in the coming Euro Qualifiers games.”

Gibraltar started their European Under-21 Championship Qualifying campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Cyprus thanks to a second half goal from Spurs midfielder Jack Roles.

Gibraltar head coach David Ochello handed debuts to Ethan Santos, Jaydan Parody, James Parkinson and Patrick McElwee while Bradley Banda retained his goalkeeper role and Gibraltar United’s Michael Negrette was appointed captain.

Gibraltar got off to a good start with Kian Ronan and Jaydan Parody causing trouble but just before the 20th minute, Cyprus midfielder Costas Anastasiou hit the crossbar.

Just before the break, Cyprus were awarded a penalty which Bradley Banda save to keep the score 0-0 at half-time.

Eight minutes after coming on as a substitute, Spurs midfielder Jack Roles opened the scoring to give Cyprus a 1-0 lead in the 62nd minute. The hosts continued to control but couldn’t find a way past Banda.

The referee blew the final whistle in Larnaca and Cyprus walked away with a slender 1-0 win.

Ahead of Gibraltar’s U21 opening game against Cyprus this Wednesday, we spoke to goalkeeper Bradley Banda about his preparation and more.

With only two days until their opening game against Cyprus U21, we asked how preparation has gone for the European Qualifiers – “We’ve been preparing for this game really for almost 2 months now, training once a week with those players who have been allowed to train by their clubs. This definitely has benefited us in absorbing the information the coaches are trying to get across to us as we’ve had more contact time with the coaches than if we would only meet up at the international break. We’ve got a few players studying at University in the UK who have had to catch up once introduced into the squad but they have picked up the pace quickly.”

The U21 squad has been in Cyprus since last Saturday, we asked how the team are feeling going into Wednesday’s game – “It’s a new group with many new faces, and for some the first time ever involved with international football. Everyone’s up for it, they’re excited and ready to get the new campaign underway. It’s a good group we have been drawn into and the opportunity to play with some of Europe’s best such as Portugal and Netherlands is incredible. Going into the game on Wednesday Vs Cyprus I think there’s a sense of belief and confidence that we can and will get a positive result, we haven’t come here to let them walk all over us.”

Bradley is one of a couple players which are still eligible from last year’s UEFA U21 campaign, the goalkeeper would be seen as one of the more experienced players from this current squad. We asked Bradley what he will be passing down to those younger players who will be making their debuts, “Just to emphasise the reality of the level of football that they will be playing at. U21s is a transitional phase from youth football to senior football, the players we come up against are all playing first team football for professional clubs. Mistakes will happen it’s part of the game and at this level its merciless, its how we react to these mistakes that will matter, that never give up mentality has to kick in. Having confidence in your own ability is important. We all know the level of ability we are at as individuals but as a group working for each other and leaving everything out there on the pitch we’re much stronger. At the end of the day its 11 v 11 and anything can happen in 90 min. We have done it before in our 1-0 win over Macedonia a year and half ago and we can do it again.”

After coming up just short against Lynx, South United got back to winning ways by beating Newton Store 6-3. Goals from Kailan Perez, Liam Clarke,Alan Parker, Zhane Consigliero and a Estiven Morente brace puts their side on 25 points, 11 off the leaders.

Last years leaders Lynx easily beat Europa 9-2, Robert Montovio got amongst the goals which now sees them stay third – three points adrift of Phoenix & Mons Calpe.

Last weekend, the Gibraltar Veterans crossed over the border to play a charity tournament – Leigh Thorne gave us an insight into what it was all about, “The tournament was arranged by La Balona Vets in order to help by raising funds for the Berlin Circus which collapsed during the high winds about a month ago. We all managed to collect as a team approximately 900 euros.”

The tournament saw Gibraltar come across Real Balompedica Linense, Algeciras & Malaga – Thorne reflected on how it went, “The tournament itself was well organised and we felt very hospitable. We [Gibraltar] lost our opening game to La Balona then drew 2-2 against Algeciras in the 3/4 place – Balona would go on to win the tournament, beating Malaga 4-1.”

Leigh Thorne is currently the Coordinator for the Gibraltar Veterans, we asked how he has found his time in charge – “I took this role nearly 6 years ago in and found it very challenging as there was not much in place other than the support from the Grassroots manager Mr Leslie Asquez who used to take an active role in all areas of Football and requested my assistance to take this forward. I initially introduced 3 annual events of 5 aside – the Poppy Day Match, the John Shephard Memorial Trophy and Cavalcade tournament which are events that had been lost for several years and have continued to do so since then. These events and most are mainly organised to help charities. The remainder of the calendar year is used to organise games with requests from Uk and Spain teams or even travel as on this occasion. The Grassroots and GFA have been very supportive in all events that I have coordinated during the past years but getting players is one of my most challenging. It’s not always easy to select players especially at Vets category as i want everyone to participate and enjoy but there is always some competitiveness, especially at tournaments. The local clubs such as St.Josephs, Lions Gibraltar, Lynx FC , Glacis Utd and Gibraltar Fire Rescue Service have been extremely supportive also when the 5-aside tournaments are organised.”

He also added, “At a personal level, it’s continues to be a very rewarding experience. We connect with the community by helping out as we can , keeping moderately fit and healthy in order to participate and socialising with old friends is always very welcoming by all.”

When asked what’s next for the Gibraltar Veterans, Thorne replied “We are looking at sub categorising the vets as we have different levels of fitness and capabilities to participate. We mainly target the 35 up to 50 age group but are looking at targeting the 45-55 age group and organise some events for them. Our next event will most likely be the annual Grassroots Day and hopefully we can have both age categories participating.”

After returning from the Futsal World Cup qualifiers, we spoke to Alan Parker about his goal against England, preparation for the tournament and achievements with South United.

Firstly. Alan described how the trip to Latvia was “Well for starters, I would like to say that it has been an amazing trip. I feel that I have gained valuable experience which will benefit myself and my team-mates in future competitions.”

Gibraltar flew out to Latvia on Saturday 26th January, four days before their opening game against England. We asked how those extra days of preparation helped the team, “I think travelling earlier gave us more time to prepare the games but also helped us to focus more, instead of being in Gibraltar and flying to Latvia two days before the game.”

Alan scored in Gibraltar’s opening 4-1 defeat to England followed by 9-0 & 11-0 defeats to hosts Latvia and Cyprus respectively. Alan reflected on his individual performances, “Scoring a goal for Gibraltar is always important and in that moment, it felt amazing. However, the result against England wasn’t what we wanted but our performance was excellent. We all tried our best and gave our all for Gibraltar, the results weren’t great but i’m proud enough with that. Hopefully the experience we’ve gained from this tournament will help us get better results next time around.”

Alan’s focus now turns to the domestic league, with South United sitting fourth in the First Division – we asked how his team will do for the rest of the season, “We have two games left and then the league splits into two for the playoffs. We just take things one match at a time and try our best to finish in the top four and qualify for a spot in Europe next season which is our aim.”

Gibraltar kick off their FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifying campaign this afternoon against England – we caught up with head coach Jose Carlos Gil Prieto as he talks about the preparation leading up to the tournament, what he hopes to achieve and much more.

After being pitted in Group A with England, Cyprus and hosts Latvia; we asked Jose Carlos on his thoughts on the draw – “After 4 years working for the GFA Futsal, first as an assistant to Peter Moreno and this last year & a half as head coach – I could say that the effort made by these players and technical staff has been incredible. With Christmas in between, we have carried on training, despite the problems we always encounter with the allocations (despite the great effort made by the Gibraltar FA). The mix of experience with youth, existing in this team, is probably the best which I have worked with, they are a good group of players and we hope that all the hard-work put in will be reflected in the matches.”

We asked how the preparation has gone in the lead up to the Futsal World Cup qualifiers, “In fact, the preparation has been quite good except for the injuries sustained to Mark Moxham and our captain Andrew Lopez, who are unable to travel with the squad. As I said before, preparation has been excellent especially during December and January as we’ve had practically 20 players, which, on previous occasions, it was very difficult for us to create a stable group. This shows that Futsal continues to grow in Gibraltar as there’s more interest in our selection, both young and experienced players.”

During the UEFA Nations League campaign, Jose Carlos worked closely with Julio Ribas – we asked how it’s benefited him as a coach, “To be honest, it has helped me a lot but not only in the days before the games, but in the day to day of our work (preparation of training, talks, etc). Working with someone like Julio, who has worked at the highest level has been a real eye opener for me. Lastly, I would like to thank Julio and the members of the Gibraltar FA for giving me this precious opportunity.”

Lastly, Jose Carlos gave an insight into what he hopes to achieve from this tournament which sees Gibraltar play three games in four days – “Regarding what I hope to achieve in this qualifier; we are all very clear that the main and most important thing is to give our maximum in each game, to compete at the highest level and continue acquiring international experience. In the result, many other details intervene as can be the rival, luck, etc .., But that does not prevent, that no one will take from us, the immense illusion with which we travel, and although we have to be realistic of the harshness of the rivals, in our mind there is always the maximum demand, which is to get positive results and continue scoring, and for the first time in the history of our federation progress to the next round of the World Cup.”

The draw for the Euro 2020 qualifiers take place tomorrow in Dublin, and ahead of the the draw, we look at who Gibraltar can draw, and who will definitely not be coming to the Victoria Stadium in 2019.